MODULE 4
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFESPAN
Spiritual growth comes in ways and at times least expected.
Various religions (all Christian religions) ceremonies of baptism/ initiation and non –
Christian – Buddhist) does not guarantee children will practice their faith. For this to
happen children need = Continual guidance from family
Teaching friends
Support faith community
Plus the children’s own assent to the beliefs/ practices presented.
A person may be born into a particular religion but he is not born religious.
Physical growth needs food for the body.
Emotional growth needs food for the psyche
Spiritual growth needs food for the spirit
SPIRITUAL vs. RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT
Spiritual development is a dynamic process where the individual becomes increasingly
aware of the:
Meaning
Purpose
in life
Values
Two components:
V
E
R
T
HOR I ZONTAL
C
A
L
One can be more developed than the other component. Religious development is the
individual’s acceptance of a particular system of:
Beliefs
Values
Rules of conduct
Rituals
Do religious and spiritual developments parallel each other? Not always.
Individuals may strictly adhere to tenets of a faith tradition yet never internalize the
symbolic meaning of religious activities.
Individuals may appear religious but not necessarily spiritual.
Religious development ideally leads to spiritual development but people can get hung up
in a particular stage of spiritual or religious growth just as in psychosocial growth and
development.
Spiritual/ religious milestone
Spiritual milestone are not as apparent as religious milestone which include baptism,
confirmation, Holy Communion, etc. therefore, there is the need to examine the
psychological milestones for their implications.
Hence, it cannot be pigeon-holed, staged, and sequenced as easily as physical and
emotional growth.
Student activity: trace your spiritual and religious development.
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ROLE OF FAITH AND HOPE IN SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
I.
Faith
Multidimensional word:
As a noun: refers to a belief in or assent to something unseen.
Verb: a way of being, living, imaging.
It is a pre – requisite for spiritual growth to occur.
Two qualities:
1. Faith given (vertical)
It is a gift from a Supreme being. “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”
It is a leap from what is to what is not known.
2. Faith developed: developmental. (Horizontal)
It matures and changes in response to life events.
Belief in God as a punitive God: (“Papa Dios will punish you if are bad.”)
To a loving God who loves unconditionally.
FOWLER’S SEVEN STAGES OF FAITH
PRIMAL FAITH (INFANCY): A pre-language disposition of trust forms the mutuality
of one’s relationships with parents and others to offset the anxiety that results
from separation that occur during infancy.
INUITIVE: Projective faith (early childhood): Imagination, stimulated by stories,
gestures, and feelings to create long – lasting images that represent both the
protective and threatening power surrounding one’s life.
MYTHIC – LITERAL FAITH (childhood and beyond): the developing ability to think
logically helps one order the world with categories of casualty, space, and time; to
enter into the perspectives of others; and to capture life.
SYNTHETIC – CONVENTIONAL FAITH (adolescence and beyond) new cognitive
abilities make mutual perspective – taking possible and require one to integrate
diverse self – images into a coherent identity. A personal and largely unreflective
synthesis of and values evolves to support identity and to capture unite one in
emotional solidarity with others.
INDIVIDUATIVE – REFLECTIVE FAITH (young adulthood and beyond): Critical
reflection one’s beliefs and values, understanding of the self and others as part of
a social system, and the assumption of responsibility for making choices of
ideology and life style open the way for commitments in relationships and
vocation.
CONJUNCTIVE FAITH (midlife and beyond): the embrace of polarities in one’s life,
alertness to paradox, and the need for multiple interpretations of reality mark this
stage. Symbol and story, metaphor and myth (from one’s own tradition and
others), are newly appreciated as vehicles for grasping truth.
UNIVERSALIZING FAITH (midlife or beyond): Beyond paradox and polarities, persons
in this stage grounded in a oneness with the power of being. Their visions and
commitments free them for a passionate yet detached spending of the self in love,
devoted to overcoming division, oppression, and brutality.
ADEN’S EIGHT STAGES OF FAITH
FAITH AS TRUST (infancy): Infants develops a basic sense of trust toward self and
others. This may form the basis for trust in a higher being.
FAITH AS COURAGE (early childhood): Child learns when to “let go and take hold to
affirm self in an undifferentiated way. this primitive faith allows an adult to feel
affirmation of self in relation to a higher being.”
FAITH AS OBEDIENCE (preschool): child learns to balance self – assertion to the will
of others. The child learns to balance inner desires with requirements made by
others. This faith is ultimately translated into obedience to what are perceived to
be the demands of Supreme Being.
FAITH AS ASSENT (school age): Child seeks to master his or her universe and to be
competent. This seeking of competence extends to knowledge and understanding
of a supreme being.
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FAITH AS IDENTITY (adolescence): Adolescence seeks ego identity, which consists of
a realistic knowledge and experiences between how he or she is viewed by
society. This gives a sense of unity to self. The successful accomplishment of this
task allows the adolescent to view the self as worthy in relationship to a supreme
being.
FAITH AS SELF – SURRENDER (young adulthood): the individual learns to give of
self wholeheartedly in a reciprocal relationship. This actualizes the individual’s
need to give self to a reality that is larger and yet more basic than the thoughts and
desires of self.
FAITH AS UNCONDITIONAL CARING (midlife): the individual is faced with the
challenge of making a significant contribution to humankind and becoming a
proactive source of generation and nurturance. In relation to a higher being, the
individual loves the being with all his or her heart, soul, and mind.
FAITH AS UNCONDITIONAL ACCEPTANCE: Individual is faced with the challenge
of finding meaning in the face of physical decline. In the struggle of faith
emerges as the affirmation of both the finite and the eternal value of life.
WESTERHOFF’S FOUR STAGES OF FAITH
EXPERIENCED FAITH (infancy – early adolescence): Children experience faith by
interacting with others who are living a particular faith tradition.
AFFILLATIVE FAITH (late adolescence): adolescents actively participate in activities
that characterize a particular faith tradition. The adolescent feels a sense of
belonging, experiences an awe and wonderment, and acknowledges the authority
of the faith community to which the adolescent belongs.
SEARCHING FAITH (young adulthood): The young adult engages in a process of
questioning and doubting his or her faith. Out of this struggle, the individual
acquires a cognitive as well as an affective faith.
OWNED FAITH (middle adulthood – old age): People desire to put faith into personal
and social action, and they are willing to stand up for what they believe, even
against their community of nurture.
Age Period
Infancy
ERIKSON
Trust vs. mistrust
ADEN
Faith as trust
FOWLER
Stage of
undifferentiated
WESTERHOFF
Early childhood
Autonomy vs.
shame and doubt
Faith as
courage
Stage I Intuitive
projective
Experienced
faith
Preschool
Initiative vs. guilt
Faith as
obedience
School age
Industry vs.
inferiority
Stage II mythical –
Faith as assent literal
Adolescence
Identity vs. role
confusion
Young
adulthood
Adulthood
Maturity
Intimacy vs.
isolation
Generativity vs.
stagnation
Ego - integrity vs.
despair
Faith as
identity
Faith as
surrender
Faith as
unconditional
surrender
Faith as
unconditional
acceptance
Stage III Synthetic
conventional
Affiliative faith
Stage IV Individuality
reflexive
Searching faith
Stage V Polar –
dialectical
Stage VI
Universalizing
Owned faith
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HOPE
HOPE is critical to spiritual development and possesses both vertical and horizontal
dimension
WEISSMAN identifies hope as pre – requisites for effecting coping with the demands
and challenges of life events such as illness, misfortunes, and crises.
FOUR MAJOR THEMES ASSOCIATED WITH HOPE
1. Orientation towards the future
Future can be anything relevant to the person
2. Goal setting
Goal can be = earthly (material) or divine
3. Action plan to meet goal achieves.
“With hope, man acts, moves achieve.
Without hope, he is often dull, listless, moribund.”
Establishing interpersonal relationship – body experiences hunger and the
satisfactions of that hunger because of such experiences if ever since he is hungry
(hope) that his hunger will be alleviated. According to Erickson, hope is the
outcome of achieving an appropriate balance between trust and mistrust and
therefore, is the first developmental task of life.
Trust in others, self, and the environment is the genesis of hope. Hope that is
grounded only in the world will result to disappointed/ despair, Hope grounded on the
Supreme being is sustained with peace and joy in spite of disappointments.
Student Activity:
 Ask class to identify implementations to caregivers.
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN
1. INFANCY
Babies are born without religious beliefs. Have undefined spiritual life.
Therefore, infancy plays a significant role in the development of both
religious belief and spirituality.
Without words and the ability to conceptualize infants learn about the
world through experiences with the caregivers. Such experiences create
images linked with feelings in the baby’s mind. If mother cares for the
baby with gentleness, consistency and love the baby experiences, feelings
of trust and the baby begins to HOPE to anticipate the future, to hope that
needs will be met and comfort will be given.
Q-
What is the role of infancy in the development of both religious beliefs
and spirituality?
HOPE
This most critical psycho – social stage is characterized by the need to balance
trust with mistrust.
Erickson claims that the development of a healthy balance between trust and
mistrust affects all of life’s experiences including the ability to participate
in an organized religion.
The model of the mother – baby relationship in which the baby is totally
dependent on the mother to have needs met, can translate to a creator =
creature model.
Such a model will form the basis for religious as well as vertical/ horizontal
spiritual development.
2. EARLY CHILDHOOD (2 –3 yrs.)
Developmental task – mastering motor skills, child’s ability to move around,
explore, touch, taste make the child assert self and acquiesced to another.
In toilet training, the child learns to yield or assert self in the child gains a
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sense of self – worth and power. In both religious and spiritual sense, this
sense of self – worth is important.
The groundwork for spiritual development requires self – worth.
Horizontally.
Individual who feel unworthy will have difficulty accepting the worth of
other people, values and endeavors outside of them.
Vertically.
Spiritual development requires that individual believe that a Supreme
Being loves them for who they are at any given moment and that they are
lovable to God.
Lack of self – worth or feeling of shame can block an individual’s
acceptance of anyone’s love, including the love of God.
According to Fowler, the child’s faith takes the form of images influenced
by what the parents say, experiences at church, religious education,
stories, religious rituals such as vocal prayers, bedtime prayers, religious
holidays create long lasting impressions/ images that influence the
spiritual and religious development – the beginning of experienced faith
passively acquired from the interaction and experiences shared with
significant others.
3. PRE – SCHOOL (4 – 5 yrs.)
Task – balancing self – assertion and self-discipline.
Inability to achieve this balance causes child to feel guilty. This stage is
facilitated by child’s increasing skill in both language and task with
implications for both having horizontal/ vertical spiritual development.
Strict parents who teach child who disobeys as bad and acceptable will
have undesirable effects on religious development.
Child will view religion as a restraining force and God as a punitive God,
not a loving God. Others will grow up so controlled by rules they become
religious fanatics unable to differentiate the letter of the law from the
spirit.
4. SCHOOL AGE (6 - 10)
Task – industry and competence. The child masters proficiency and
knowledge in the art of doing things. Failure to accomplish this task will
lead to feeling of inferiority.
Effects: affects person’s participation in an organized religion.
Decrease appreciation of personal talents and capabilities
Diminished ability to relate with others including God.
5. ADOLESCENCE
Time of conflicts and rebellion as individual struggles to achieve a clear
sense of who they are and where they are going.
Must have sense of self-identity, before they can be true to others, self and God.
Inability to accomplish this task will result to confused person. It is a stage of
questioning.
6. YOUNG ADULTHOOD
Developmental task = generativity.
Having attained self – identify, the person can commit herself now to intimate
relationships. A healthy balance between intimacy and isolation results to
Self
Love of
Others
God
Call of intimacy
with God
Religious vocation
marriage
single life
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7. MIDDLE ADULTHOOD
Developmental task = generativity.
Balance between generativity and stagnation results to care and caring.
Nurturing of children; sharing in the generativity of God. There is also an
increased turning inwards.
8. LATER MATURITY
Developmental task; achieve balance between ego integrity and despair
results to wisdom.
Vertical spiritual growth is manifested in:
1. Service – James 2:14 – 17
2. Prayer – Central to spiritual growth and God related ness
3. Stewardship – caretaker
Nursing Implications:
1. Spirituality is not something to be judged but assessed and accepted.
2. Interventions at the physical/ psychological – social levels are also
interventions for the spiritual needs of horizontal dimension.
3. Awareness that spirituality progresses over life span.
SPIRITUALITY OF THE NURSE
PRAYER
I.
Definition: Lifting up of one’s mind and heart to God.
II. Descriptions:
1. Prayer is an activity of faith.
2. Prayer is a privilege.
It is privilege to be able to communicate with God, who is totally
available at any time and for as long one wants.
3. Prayer is a gift
It is the creator who initiates, who invites, who reaches out first.
4. Prayer leads to union with God.
The most important purpose of prayer is union with God.
5. Prayer is an experience of God loving you and in return an expression
of your love for God.
6. Prayer centered more on God’s activity than on your own is an activity
of greater faith. It takes great faith and humility to sacrifice some of
the satisfaction that comes from a more active form of prayer in order
to be more attentive to what God is doing.
7. It is spirit of God who guides and directs you in prayer. No one can
say ‘Jesus’ unless he is under the influence of the holy spirit (1 Cor
12:3)
8. Prayer is sacrifice possessed by God and transformed by him.
9. Prayer is a sacrifice of time.
By spending or sacrificing time in prayer we offer something very
precious to the Lord. In prayer, we return to the Lord some of the time
that he entrusts to us.
10. Prayer is a time to experience our helplessness and poverty. During the
day, we are busy with many different activities. These activities
especially if they are very satisfying and successful, might create the
illusion that we can get along pretty well without God.
What happens in prayer depends primarily on God. He is the giver. He
is in control. We come to him empty because we are empty.
As we sit in the Lord’s presence during prayer we can experience this
emptiness and helplessness even physically. Sitting is a helpless
position; it is a position of waiting. This “desert experience” is a
normal part of our progress in prayer.
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